Biography
Bengaluru are a famous franchise in the Indian T20 League that was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor brand Royal Challenge. Since its inception, the team has played its home matches at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. Notably, they have never won the Indian T20 League but finished runners-up on three occasions between 2009 and 2016. Their lack of success over the years despite the presence of various marquee players has earned them the tag of 'underachievers'.
Till 2021, the team held the record of both the highest and the lowest totals in the Indian T20 League – 263/5 and 49 respectively and that's enough to tell you about the mercurial nature of Bengaluru.
In the inaugurating season, Indian legend Rahul Dravid was named as their captain but the franchise finished second from bottom and in the 2009 edition, which was played in South Africa, Anil Kumble was made captain. The team, having a good mix of youth and experience, made it to the summit clash, only to falter at the final hurdle. In 2010, once again Bengaluru qualified for the playoffs under the captaincy of Anil Kumble but got defeated by Mumbai in the semi-final. From 2011, Indian superstar Virat Kohli, who was on a meteoric rise was named skipper of the franchise and thus began the Kohli-Gayle-De Villiers era.
Bengaluru once again reached the playoffs in 2011 and found themselves in the final against southern rivals, Chennai, who got the better of them and won successive titles. Bengaluru also qualified directly for the Champions League T20 and in doing so, became the only team to feature in all three editions of the tournament. The next couple of years, proved to be frustrating as Bengaluru missed a berth in the playoffs by finishing 5th on both occasions. 2014 turned out to be even worse as for the first time since the first season, they finished in the bottom two as they ended 7th on the points table.
2016 though was the year to remember for Bengaluru and their skipper, Virat Kohli as he broke the record for the most runs scored in a single season. Kohli led his side to the final with Gayle and de Villiers firing on all cylinders. However, they once again tanked in the final against Hyderabad. The subsequent season was the worst campaign of Bengaluru's history as they finished rock bottom.
In 2018, there was a complete overhaul of the squad with Chris Gayle leaving and a lot of other changes being made. The performance, however, did not improve much as the Red Brigade finished 6th this time around. The same pattern followed in the 2019 season as Bengaluru finished bottom on the points table for the second time in three seasons.
Since 2020, Bengaluru got their MOJO back and put up strong performances. The one thing that changed from previous years was their bowling as they usually depended more on their firepower in batting. Bengaluru qualified for the playoffs in both the 2020 and 2021 editions but couldn’t make it to the final. One big surprise came, when Virat Kohli announced that he would be stepping down from captaincy at the end of the 2021 campaign.
Before the 2022 mega auction, Bengaluru retained Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj and acquired the services of Faf du Plessis, Dinesh Karthik, Josh Hazlewood, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Behrendorff, David Willey to name a few along with buying back Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga and Finn Allen. Under Faf du Plessis' leadership in 2022, Bengaluru secured their third consecutive playoff appearance in the Indian T20 League. However, their journey was halted in the Eliminator by Rajasthan.
In the 2023 edition of the Indian T20 League, Bengaluru displayed inconsistency before gaining momentum in the latter stages. With two consecutive victories leading into the final league match, Bengaluru had control over their playoff fate. A victory of any margin would have secured their spot in the playoffs. However, a loss against Gujarat dashed their hopes of clinching the maiden Indian T20 League title, marking the end of their campaign.
Prior to the 2024 auction, Bengaluru retained their overseas core of Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Reece Topley, and Will Jacks. They further strengthened their squad by acquiring Australian all-rounder Cameron Green from Mumbai in an all-cash trade. Additionally, Bengaluru bolstered their overseas bowling contingent at the auction with the signings of Alzarri Joseph, Tom Curran, and Lockie Ferguson. In a significant move, the franchise formerly known as Bangalore changed its name to Bengaluru just before the start of the 2024 season. With this change, they hope to usher in a new era of success and will be determined to clinch their maiden Indian T20 League trophy.
